It’s a very sad day indeed

I think the decision to leave the EU will be an unmitigated disaster, particularly if we end up being excluded from the single market at the end of our Article 50 negotiations with the EU.

The only way I see the UK being provided with access to the single market is if it agrees to a Norway style deal involving continued freedom of movement, compliance with most EU laws and more or less the same substantial monthly payments into the EU, which would be utterly irreconcilable with what the Vote Leave campaign argued for.

Although I consider myself in many ways a Eurosceptic and believe that the EU remains in need of substantial reform, the idea that we leave the biggest trading block in the world and will be better off striking trade deals as a small country with countries such as China and India of 50 million+ in our own right (with Scotland voting to go independent), is extraordinary.

Frankly, most of the voters for the leave campaign have been tricked into believing a fairy tale that we can get a better deal from the EU by leaving and not paying any of the bills. Worst still, some of the leave voters and campaigners are flirting with far right ideology which would not be out of place in an EDL demonstration.

In conclusion, as a South Yorkshire lad born and bred, I think its a very sad day indeed that a proud city such as Sheffield with a rich socialist heritage has voted in favour of a campaign led by Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, individuals who history will rightly view as the Enoch Powells of their day.